HBMSU needs to collect and process personal data in order to provide services to its learners and customers, manage its operations effectively, and meet legal requirements. This Privacy Policy discloses the privacy practices for HBMSU and how HBMSU use your personal data. By using HBMSU services and platforms, you are consenting to our collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
HBMSU only use your information in a lawful, transparent, and fair manner. Depending on the specific personal data concerned and the factual context, when HBMSU processes personal data as a Data Controller for its Learners, Web users and Partners, we rely on the following bases as applicable in each aspect:
Information Related to the Users of HBMSU Website
Data shall be collected, processed, and stored in a variety of systems to deliver the requested services. These local systems are part of the corporately supported IT architecture which maintains a live service as well as copies of the live systems used for software development and testing. This development and testing systems will also contain your data consistent with HBMSU’s data retention periods, to use your data in this way to ensure that the services you interact with are secure and provide the best learner’s experience possible.
As necessary for our contracts: When committed directly with you, HBMSU shall process your personal data in order to prepare and enter into the contract, as well as to perform and manage such contract (i.e., providing HBMSU programs, features and services to users, and manage our relationship and contract, including billing, compliance with contractual obligations, and related administration). If we do not process your personal data for these purposes, we may not be able to provide you with all products, features, and services.
We and our third-party vendors collect certain information regarding your use of our website and platforms, such as your IP address and browser type. Your session and the pages you visit on our website will be tracked, but you will remain anonymous. We may use your IP address to identify the general geographic area from which you are accessing. We connect data from different systems but do not link IP addresses to any personal information. We may also collect other information as described in this policy.
We use the information we gather from you for systems administration purposes, abuse prevention, and to track user trends, and for the other purposes described in this policy. If you send us an email, the email address you provide may be used to send you information, such information may include but not limited to respond to inquiries, and/or other requests or questions. We will not sell, rent, or swap any third party to use your email address for commercial purposes without your permission.
User information may be shared with third-party vendors to the extent necessary to provide and improve our services or other communications to users. For example, usage data are analysed in order to optimize our website for our visitors. We prohibit any third parties who receive user information for this purpose from using or sharing user information for any purpose other than providing services for the benefit of our users.
We may also provide your information to third parties in circumstances where we believe that doing so is necessary or appropriate to satisfy any applicable laws, regulations, legal process, or governmental request; detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security, or technical issues; or protect our rights and safety and the rights and safety of our users or others.
Google and other third parties may use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to collect or receive information from this website and elsewhere on the internet and use that information to provide measurement services and target ads. For more information on Google Analytics, consult their terms of use, privacy practices, and ads settings. You can opt out of the collection and use of this information through tools like the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page.
Information Related to HBMSU Learners
By registering in a program or course offered by HBMSU, you are acknowledging that you have read, admit, and accept the terms of this privacy policy.
What information do we collect about you?
Information that you give to us:
As soon as you contact us, we create a record in your name. To that record we add information that you give us when reserving, registering, or enrolling and throughout your studies, including emails and webchat between you and the University. We keep records of your participation in courses, learning activities, and your use of other services we offer.
We hold general information about you, such as your name, address, courses, programs, and qualifications studied and fee payments, as well as data relating to examinations, assessments, and course results.
It is likely that you will give us further personal information when you start to use some of our services, for example, employability records.
We will automatically collect information about your participation in courses, online learning and assessment activities, your use of teaching and learning material and related platforms, and all forms of assessment activities. We will also add to your record any activities that you carry out on our platforms. This might include diagnostic quizzes you complete, or courses you attend. If you use the University email address and other Microsoft Office 365 services, then we collect log data about your use of the service. We may automatically collect technical information when you browse our websites. We record telephone calls and monitor other communications between you and HBMSU to make sure that we have carried out your instructions correctly and to help us improve our services through staff training. We may track if you open emails from us or click links within them.
We may analysis data on applications, forms, and acceptances in order to review and study certain subjects corresponding to constant improving of our services and responses to the Learners. While we will where possible use anonymized data for these purposes, in some cases we will use personal data where there is a legitimate interest in doing so. Where we use personal data for these purposes, we will ensure that any published information is anonymized.
Information we receive from third parties:
We may receive some information about you from third parties. We may contact the Ministry of Education or other competent authorities to confirm the qualifications you have obtained or to check the information included in your application. We may also receive some personal information as part of the process of reporting consistent with our legal compliance.
If you are not currently studying, we may enhance our records with data received from third parties, in order to ensure we have up to date contact details for you, and in order to offer you more relevant communications.
How do we use your personal information?
We collect and process a broad range of personal data about you in order to deliver our services and support you, to manage our operations effectively, and to meet our legal commitments.
We use your “special categories” of data for activities including equal opportunities monitoring, identifying if you need support (in conjunction with other learning analytics data), informing academic research, providing you with relevant opportunities, and ensuring that views of learners with specific protected characteristics are represented. Information that you have given us about any disabilities and special requirements you have will also be used to inform the provision of reasonable adjustments and other provisions for your study.
You may submit additional “special category” information to us, for example medical evidence, information relating to special circumstances for an examination, or information pertinent to an enquiry or complaint. We only use this information for the purpose for which it was provided.
We are committed to the data protection principles of good practice for handling information. All personal information is held securely, and we will only transfer data within the University on a ‘need-to-know’ basis so that we can support our academic and other services to you.
We will contact you in connection with your studies or for administration or support purposes. We may also send you marketing information.
Who do we share your information with?
We share data with other organizations where we have a legal or regulatory obligation to do this, for example with, the Ministry of Education and some government departments in UAE.
We may also share your data with organizations and government departments so that you can be invited to participate in related surveys, which may be carried out by contractors on their behalf.
We may disclose your information to our third-party service providers and partners for the purposes of providing services to us, or directly to you on our behalf. This includes educational partners, IT service providers, third party learning environments, etc. We may share information and data with Partner Institution in the provision of offering joint program or courses. When we use third party service providers, we only disclose to them any personal information that is necessary for them to provide their service. We shall have a contract in place that contains data and information protection provisions no less onerous than those implemented by HBMSU.
If you are studying towards a qualification that leads to professional recognition, we may share some information with the relevant professional body.
As necessary to comply with our legal obligations: We process your personal data to comply with the legal obligations to which we are subject for the purposes of compliance with applicable laws, regulations, codes of practice, guidelines, or rules applicable to us, and for responses to requests from, and other communications with, competent public, governmental, judicial, or other regulatory authorities. This includes detecting, investigating, preventing, and stopping fraudulent, harmful, unauthorized, or illegal activity (“fraud and abuse detection”) and compliance with privacy laws.
We process certain personal data in order to protect vital interests for the purpose of detecting and preventing illicit activities that impact vital interests and public safety.
We will take steps to ensure that appropriate security measures are taken to protect your privacy rights as outlined in this policy. This would either be imposing contractual obligations on the recipient of your personal information or ensuring that the recipients are subscribed to international Information Security regulations that aim to ensure adequate protection.
Surveys
All HBMSU survey results and associated information are stored securely, are only available to authorized individuals to use for analysis and reporting purposes and are handled in compliance with Information applicable Security policy.
We treat all individual responses to our surveys in confidence, so we are unable to pass on any queries you raise on your completed survey. You may be interested to know that:
We only use your personal identifier to analyze data by group characteristics, such as age bands or gender - for example to inform our widening access and participation strategy.
Your survey answers and comments will never be used in a way that can identify you individually.
Your survey answers and comments are not used in the assessment of your studies.
Comments you make about your courses and program experience are made available to the faculty, trainer, and related staff only after the declaration of assessment results, if applicable. HBMSU faculty and staff are also advised about the conditions of use of this information.
Anonymized quotes from your comments may be used to illustrate the survey findings in internal reports and external publications. However, if you would rather your comments were not used in this way, please indicate that in your response.
Your information may be used to allow us to carry out surveys. These include the decliners’ survey which is sent to applicants who have declined an offer, or surveys of applicants who have participated in offer holder events and help us to improve our services and the applicant experience.
How long do we keep your personal information for?
We keep academic transcript data at learner date of birth + 100 years, in order to provide references and verify your study with us, and for archival research.
We keep some information relating to the courses or programs, and related queries and communications, for six years, in order to inform our ongoing relationship with you, and in case it is necessary to establish, bring or defend legal claims.
We destroy some information within one semester or a year, where it does not have a longer-term impact, and is not required for potential academic process. For example, we will destroy some data that is relevant to exams and assessment shortly after the result is announced, and we will only keep the result itself and some samples.
Learners’ use of personal data
Learners are not allowed to collect or use other learners’ personal data as part of their study at HBMSU, if you need to do so for research purposes then you must get a written approval of your instructor or supervisor AND HBMSU Research Committee, and you must follow all precautions, IS regulations, and instructions given on how to process such data.
Your rights
You have a number of rights in relation to your personal information. In order to exercise any of these rights, please contact the Registration Department, you have the right to:
- Access the personal information that we hold about you.
- Obtain a copy of your personal data in a structured electronic data file.
- Correct inaccuracies in the personal information that we hold about you.
- Request that we stop sending you direct marketing communications.
- If you are concerned about the way we have processed your personal information, you can complain to the Learners Relationship Management Department.
Information Security at HBMSU
HBMSU has reasonable security measures in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under its control. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure.
Changes to this Policy
We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, any update will be posted herewith, so please review it periodically to learn of any potential updates.